The Minnesota Vikings’ final game of the season came down to a simple equation: Win and clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC, or lose and watch the Detroit Lions clinch the NFC North over you for the second time in a row.
The math never added up in their favor, and the Vikings lost 31-9 in a deeply anticlimactic game.
Minnesota’s defense held firm for over half a game, but their offense never found a rhythm — and when they did, it was interrupted as soon as they entered the red zone. Even despite a calamity of errors that saw Detroit essentially negate a Vikings field goal to end the first half, they hung in, 10-6.
The offense would only manage another three points for the rest of the game. The defense, which consistently confounded Detroit’s vaunted offensive attack and generated turnovers, eventually gave way in a 31-9 loss that sends the Vikings to Los Angeles next week to face the Rams while the Lions get the respite of a playoff bye week.
Here are five numbers to break down the game.
1
For the first time this season, the Vikings punted on their first two drives. The identity of the offense so far this season has been getting off to fast starts, and it looked like they were set to do it again as they were moving the ball with ease on the first drive — that is, until a false-start penalty put them into second- and eventually third-and-long. After the Lions’ offense took advantage of Minnesota’s lack of discipline and made it a 7-0 game, the Vikings would need to respond on their second drive.
They didn’t not. Sam Darnold took an 18-yard sack on the first play on the next drive and went three-and-out. Minnesota’s offense looked like they were not ready in the first quarter.
While this game was probably the biggest regular-season anyone on either side has played, the playoffs are a whole different beast, and the offense needs to be settled down and ready to play in these moments.
59.1
In the first half, Darnold faced pressure on 59.1% of his dropbacks. Many of the questions this week were about how Detroit’s secondary would hold up against Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. However, they held both quiet in the first half by using pressure to their advantage while continuing to play man coverage like they have all season.
Despite how good he has been this season, Darnold has been prone to holding on to the ball longer than most quarterbacks while he looks for something to open up. Aaron Glenn and the Lions defense held Darnold in check in the first half. Darnold was only five of 14 for 74 yards against man coverage in the first half.
The pressure forced him to be more decisive, and he often missed throws high. For example, Darnold missed Jefferson on third-and-goal when Jefferson beat Amik Robertson on a double move, only for the ball to sail over his head.
1/9
Darnold was 1 for 9 on throws in goal-to-go situations before garbage time. Darnold looked far out of his depth on goal-to-go throws this week, missing all but one, a checkdown to Aaron Jones. Minnesota’s offense was able to move the ball down the field, but they kept stalling out in the red zone.
Some of the throws were bad misses, like when Jefferson won on a double-move only to have Darnold ball sail the ball over his head. However, a lot of them were a direct result of Detroit’s cornerbacks holding up in man coverage while the front seven would get home and force Darnold on the move. Robertson played probably the game of his life isolated on Jefferson, making No. 18 a non-factor almost all game.
0
Jordan Addison had 0 yards in the game. Minnesota’s No. 2 receiver has had an incredible second half of the season where he has become a threat from any part of the field and has capitalized on the attention Jefferson draws. That wasn’t the case in this game. Detroit’s secondary held the second-year man out of USC without a catch.
Detroit’s defense played Jefferson and Addison much differently than we have seen in the past. Despite being their backup cornerbacks, they gave the responsibility to them to play man coverage and often drew up cover 0 and other types of blitzes. That allowed the front seven to put pressure on Darnold and make it so that no long-developing plays came together.
2
This game was just the second in Kevin O’Connell’s tenure where the Vikings lost despite winning the turnover battle. The first was earlier this year to the Rams. Despite the loss, the Vikings defense still got their takeaways, with Ivan Pace and Harrison Smith snagging interceptions. While the stat line doesn’t look great, the defense held its own until the third quarter.
In some respects, it looked like they were more likely to score than the offense, with Ivan Pace Jr. almost getting seven on his interception and Andrew Van Ginkel nearly reeling in yet another pick-six on a screen. While turnovers have made this defense so incredible, they will only win if the offense can get points and execute on the mistakes the defense forced. Today, the offense didn’t hold up their end of the bargain.
